Gombau lauds Adelaide's Jets demolition

Rob Laidlaw
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Adelaide United coach Josep Gombau was a happy man after Adelaide United beat Newcastle Jets 7-0 on Saturday, but stressed there was still a long way to go and the result only means three premiership points.

"It was a very good game for us and everyone is happy," Gombau said.

"We scored the goals when we had the opportunities, but whether we win 1-0 or 7-0, it's still three points.

"The boys will enjoy tonight and tomorrow, and on Monday it starts again, and we need to try and play better again next game.

"The football we brought and the way we played was good. The break has been good for us, as we spent time on our skills and passing, after having a heavy workload with games."

Adelaide was definitely the more focused team, from the start right through to the finish, with goals coming in the game's first two minutes and at the 92 minute mark, with five in between.

In the first half the Reds took advantage of a frustrated opponent, as Newcastle made numerous errors and received four yellow cards, with the Jets trailing 4-0 at half time.

And the final score-line was close to a record, which was 8-1 against North Queensland Fury.

"We didn't know we were close to the record, we just play our game," Gombau said.

"We respect our opponent, Newcastle, and tried to do the best that we can."

While Adelaide was regularly finding the back of the net, the Reds "inexperienced" goalkeepers were keeping a clean sheet.

With regular goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic not playing, Paul Izzo wore the gloves, with John Hall taking over for the final 30 minutes, in his A League debut.

"Both Izzo and Hally are from Adelaide and fantastic kids," Gombau said.

"Izzo started because he had some experience, he kept well in the cup against Wellington, do we decided on him, but I was a little sad for Hally, because he deserved his shot.

"And today because we felt the game was going well, I wanted to make this change, for his (Hall's) first game.

"At the end of the day, everyone is part of the squad and now everyone in the team have minutes on the field."

The Reds again have another couple of weeks break before their next game, and away contest with Central Coast Mariners on February 7.